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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28712994">When the Tide Rolls In</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/paris_girl22/pseuds/paris_girl22'>paris_girl22</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Teen Wolf (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Action/Adventure, Alternate 6B, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Kidnapping, Little Mermaid Elements, M/M, Magic, Merpeople, Merperson Stiles Stilinski, Mild Language, Romance, Werewolves, mer!malia, mer!stiles</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-03-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 10:14:44</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>10,175</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28712994</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/paris_girl22/pseuds/paris_girl22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>There once was a merman named Stiles Stilinski, who dreamed of the land above the water, while there was a werewolf named Scott McCall, who dreamed of the ocean beyond the horizon. One day, their two worlds unexpectedly collide when Stiles accidentally ends up with legs, because of course that would happen to him. A merman can fit in amongst the human world easily without causing unwanted attention... right?</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Scott McCall/Stiles Stilinski</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>11</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“So, now that your mother is gone, what do you want to do today, Scott?” Lucrecia Delgado asks her 7-year-old grandson, Scott McCall, with a smile as she enters her living room after saying goodbye to her daughter, Scott’s mother, at the front door.</p><p>Scott jumps off the sofa and bounds over to his grandmother with excitement lighting up his eyes, making Lucrecia’s heart melt a little.</p><p>“Can we please go to the beach, Abuela? I love it when we go to the beach!” Scott pleads excitedly, almost jumping up and down with anticipation. Lucrecia chuckles at her grandson’s eagerness and energy.</p><p>“Of course we can. That’s a great idea, Scott. I have so many more stories I can tell you about the ocean that I’m sure you’ll love. That, and I’ll get us some ice cream for our walk along the beach.” Lucrecia smiles.</p><p>“Yay! Thanks Abuela, I’ll go and get my things!” Scott replies excitedly before rushing out of the living room and towards Lucrecia’s spare room that has basically been set up as Scott’s bedroom, with a heap of his clothes in the cupboards and even a box of toys under the bed. Lucrecia chuckles once again as she watches the little boy run off to get ready.</p><p>“I hope he never grows tired of our trip to the beach tradition...” Lucrecia mumbles wistfully to herself. Going to the beach with Scott has been a thing that the two have done every time together since Scott was about three years old. </p><p>Whenever Melissa drops her son off at Lucrecia’s house, the two always end up at the beach. In Santa Barbra, no other activity comes close to being as good as the beach, especially since Lucrecia isn’t exactly made of money; she only barely just have enough to get by. However, there isn’t a place she’d rather be.</p><p>Melissa thinks all of the beach trips are cute. Her husband, Rafael, however, thinks it’s a bit of an obsession and isn’t fond of Lucrecia telling Scott all sorts of fantastic stories about the sea. Lucrecia never pays any attention to Rafael though. She’s never liked him, and doubts that she ever will. His opinion means nothing to her. Lucrecia hopes that Scott doesn’t turn out as close minded as his dad, but all she can really do is wait and see. </p><p>Lucrecia sighs and begins walking to her own room, gathering all of her belongings that she will need for a day trip to the beach. Thankfully, she packed a bag the night before, knowing full well that Scott was coming over today, so grabbing her things doesn’t take long at all.</p><p>A few minutes later, Scott comes rushing into Lucrecia’s room with a white t-shirt on, black board shorts, red flip flops and black sunglasses and a black cap on, with a huge grin on his face.</p><p>“I’m ready!” Scott exclaims.</p><p>“Well then, what are we waiting for?” Lucrecia replies with a mischievous smile.</p><p>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</p><p>“Mm, I love chocolate ice cream!” Scott says happily as he takes another lick, and some of the ice cream ends up on his face, causing Lucrecia to chuckle fondly.</p><p>“I can see that.” Lucrecia notes as they continue to walk along the beach towards their favourite spot while eating their ice creams.</p><p>“I prefer lemon though,” Lucrecia adds, curious about Scott’s reaction to the statement.</p><p>“No way, chocolate is always better! You can’t beat chocolate!” Scott exclaims defiantly and confidently.</p><p>“Alright, I’ll take your word for it,” Lucrecia laughs, watching fondly as Scott continues to gobble down his ice cream. A few minutes later, they arrive at a rocky cove that is only probably big enough for two or three people. This has been the secret spot Lucrecia and Scott have been coming to for years, neither of them telling anyone else about it. Scott clambers up the rocks and jumps down onto the sandy inside of the cove, thankfully not losing his ice cream as he does so. Lucrecia has the sense to merely walk around the rocks, walking through the shallow water, enjoying the feel of the small waves crashing against her ankles. She walks over to Scott and the two of them sit down on the small rocky ledge as they continue to finish their ice creams.</p><p>“Have you told anyone about this spot?” Lucrecia asks her grandson curiously.</p><p>“Of course not, Abuela! This is our secret spot! No one must know about it!” Scott responds with wide eyes, looking a little offended that his Abuela would actually think he would tell another soul about this place.</p><p>“Good, good. I was just checking.” Lucrecia chuckles, glancing at the ice cream smear on Scott’s face, making him look more adorable, but a little harder to take seriously.</p><p>“Do you want to hear a story?” Lucrecia continues in a mischievous tone, raising an eyebrow slightly at her grandson.</p><p>“Yes please! I love hearing all of your sea stories!” Scott replies eagerly, finishing his ice cream in another two bites, now fixating intently on Lucrecia with his large brown eyes.</p><p>“Very well. As you know, the ocean is a very mysterious place. Only 5% of it has been explored by humans, you know.” Lucrecia begins.</p><p>“Woah...” Scott says in awe.</p><p>“There’s a whole world out there that we really don’t know anything about. So why are people so adamant in denying creatures such as the Loch Ness monster, the kraken, merfolk, sirens, selkies and sea witches could ever possibly exist? How would we know that?” Lucrecia continues mysteriously, completely enthralling Scott.</p><p>“Wait, are you saying those creatures could actually exist?” Scott asks excitedly.</p><p>“Well, I’m not saying they don’t exist. But no, I haven’t seen any sort of mystical creatures myself. However, I have heard stories of people that have seen something in the water that they could never really explain to anyone, as no one ever believed them.” Lucrecia answers vaguely.</p><p>“Really? What happened? Tell me!” Scott gasps in excitement and scoots closer to Lucrecia, who chuckles and places an arm around her grandson.</p><p>“Well, which story should I tell you? Hmm... Okay, so, back when I was 17, still living in Mexico at the time, I had this friend named Jimena. She was a lovely girl, so kind and caring. We had been friends through most of high school. However, she has always been deathly afraid of the water. Nothing had ever seriously happened to her in the water, but she was never taught how to swim, so it’s understandable that she feared the water. Drowning would be a horrible way to die.” Lucrecia begins, reminiscing the times she spent with her good friend Jimena, wondering what happened to her after the two went on seperate paths in life.</p><p>“Anyway, a group of us decided to go on a road trip down to the coast during the summer. Jimena came along as well. For the first half of the trip, all was well. We stayed in the cheapest motels we could find, and we went to the local festival in Mazunte which went over a few nights, and it was great fun. However, just before we were due to leave Mazunte, one of our friends decided that our last day there should be spent on the beach. Jimena was hesitant, but she agreed, promising that she wouldn’t go near the water.” Lucrecia continues.</p><p>“It’s about to get really interesting, isn’t it?” Scott asks with a delighted grin forming on his face, which widens even more when Lucrecia nods in response.</p><p>“So, we go down to the beach, and set up our stuff. Some of us go in the water while the rest of us, including Jimena and I, play volleyball. Eventually, one of the guys spots a cliff diving place not so far away, so we all get back in the car and drive towards the cliff area,” Lucrecia continues, and then pauses for a moment.</p><p>“Now, Scott, you should never cliff jump, okay? It’s too dangerous. We were young and stupid, and I don’t want you to make the same mistake when you’re a teenager.” Lucrecia warns her grandson seriously. Scott nods quickly and firmly.</p><p>“I promise I won’t, Abuela.” Scott says reassuringly.</p><p>“Good. Now, let’s keep going,” Lucrecia smiles.</p><p>“So, we walk to the edge and look down, to see how the water below is looking. At that point, the tide and current seemed to be in our favour, not looking like it would smash us into the rocks if we jumped. Everyone starts getting excited, and those of us who hadn’t been in the water yet quickly slip out of our clothes, our swim suits underneath. Obviously, Jimena wasn’t getting changed, and she was standing nervously slightly behind Juan, eyeing the cliff worriedly.”</p><p>“The guys start arguing with who should go first, pushing and shoving each other, laughing and playing around. Us girls watched with amusement, and we started discussing that we should all jump in first to show the boys up. Anyway, the point is that we were all distracted and messing around, which was really stupid to do near a slippery cliff. Miguel accidentally shoves Juan too hard, who stumbles backwards into Jimena. This causes her to trip backwards and slip on the rocks. We watch in horror and scream as we watch as she falls off the cliff and out of sight.” Scott gasps in horror, his eyes wide with shock and worry.</p><p>“Was... was Jimena okay? Did she land in a bush on the way down or something?” Scott asks nervously. </p><p>“Well, this next part is according to Jimena. She had never felt more terrified than that day, as she slipped and fell. Although the fall was probably only several seconds, it felt like an eternity to Jimena. Her screams were lost in the wind, and then she suddenly found herself underwater. The impact had hurt, but obviously that was not the first thing on her mind. Jimena started panicking and struggling to get to the surface as the underwater currents shoved her to and fro, making it all the more harder for Jimena. According to her, it was like being spun around inside of a washing machine.” Lucrecia continues.</p><p>“How... how did she get out? Did someone jump in after her?” Scott asks, the look of worry and a hint of fear still in his eyes.</p><p>“Yes. Miguel, Juan and Carlos jumped in only a couple of moments later. However, they couldn’t find her. Eventually, they had to give up and come back to shore before they became too tired and possibly drown. Fearing the worst for Jimena, it was the hardest decision they had to make. However, when they got back to the shore, and the rest of us hurried back down to the beach to meet them, we found that Jimena was lying on the shore, coughing and spluttering, looking terrified and completely shaken and cold, but otherwise okay.” Lucrecia replies.</p><p>“But how? How did she get back to the surface?” Scott frowns in confusion.</p><p>“Well, Jimena told us that as she was beginning to give up and was running out of breath to hold, she could have sworn she saw something swimming towards her in the water. At first, she thought it was one of us, but as it came closer, it was clear that it wasn’t any of her friends. Still, Jimena was starting to feel a little hope that someone might be coming to save her. However, as it came even closer, she saw that it wasn’t even human. Not 100% human, anyway. She said that it looked like a man from head to waist, but instead of legs, there was a shimmering, scaly blue fish tail.” Lucrecia explains.</p><p>“She saw a mermaid?!” Scott gasps in astonishment.</p><p>“Well, as he was male, technically I think the term is merman.” Lucrecia corrects him.</p><p>“Oh... Well, did the merman save Jimena?” Scott continues, desperate to know.</p><p>“According to Jimena, yes. Although she does think she could have been hallucinating the tail, as she had been deprived of oxygen for a long time at that point. But what she remembers is that he swam up to her with a worried expression on his face, picked her up in his arms and swam her back to shore. She said as she reached the surface and could finally gasp for breath again, she looked all over the place for her saviour, but he was nowhere to be seen.” Lucrecia concludes, and Scott looks at her with complete awe.</p><p>“Woah... so mermen and mermaids are real?” Scott asks in bewilderment.</p><p>“I believe what Jimena says, even though she doesn’t even truly believe what she saw herself. Maybe that just makes me a crazy old lady, thinking that merfolk and other supposedly mythical creatures are real. But why shut yourself off from the idea of there being more in this world than we think?” Lucrecia responds with a shrug.</p><p>“You’re right, Abuela!” Scott smiles in amazement.</p><p>“Don’t let your father tell you to limit your imagination.” Lucrecia adds warningly, knowing that Rafael would definitely not approve of the things she has told Scott today.</p><p>“Don’t worry, I won’t.” Scott giggles in response.</p><p>“Good. Now, run along for a swim, Scott. Don’t go out too deep. Perhaps you could find some nice shells for us to add to our collection.” Lucrecia smiles.</p><p>“Sure thing, Abuela!” Scott says as he hops off the ledge and rushes towards the water happily, ready to search for the perfect shell.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Asherah, come here girl!” Stiles calls out before whistling for a moment. Several seconds later, Stiles hears the familiar and cheerful clicking sounds coming from behind him. Stiles grins widely and twists around in the water to see the dolphin named Asherah racing towards him happily. Stiles chuckles as the dolphin bumps into him, nudging him with her snout cheekily.</p><p>“Hey girl, good to see you.” Stiles says while Asherah chatters away happily. Stiles reaches his hand out and strokes the dolphin’s back, which Asherah responds to happily.</p><p>“Is that nice, huh?” Stiles asks as he continues to stroke Asherah’s back for a few more moments. Eventually, Stiles withdraws his hand, flicking his shimmering red tail excitedly in anticipation.</p><p>“Do you want to race?” Stiles asks the dolphin with a mischievous grin. Asherah once again clicks in response, nodding her head rapidly.</p><p>“I’ll race you back to the city. Let’s go!” Stiles States eagerly before flicking his tail once more, twisting around in the water and then begins swimming back towards the city of his pod. Stiles glances behind him and smiles as Asherah is following, chattering away happily and keeping up with Stiles’ pace.</p><p>“Catch me if you can!” Stiles laughs before speeding up and zig zagging through the coral reefs, giving the dolphin more of a challenge. Stiles feels so free as he swims through the coral, their colours flying past him, a swirl of bubbles surrounding him, his hair flowing around him freely, as he hears Asherah chattering  away behind him. To show off a little, Stiles does a little loop-the-loop before diving down and just manages to squeeze through between two rocks. As Stiles swims out from between the rocks, he glances back to see if Asherah would follow him through the rocks, but it looks like she has went around it, which causes Stiles to feel a little smug.</p><p>“Come on Asherah, keep up!” Stiles call’s out cheekily over his shoulder before he turns back and continues focusing on speeding through the water, his tail flipping furiously. </p><p>After swimming through another coral reef and through a seaweed forest, Stiles finally sees the beginning of his city; clusters of caves for at least a mile. There are plenty of merfolk with a rainbow arrangement of tail colours swimming around together in groups, enjoying the last few hours of the Time of the Sun. Whilst merfolk can naturally see in the dark, as the ocean is incredibly dark as it is, even they can see a massive difference when the Time of the Moon hits, everything colder and fields of vision more limited. On full moons though, they have festivals celebrating the moon and its extra light, and the power it gives them and the ocean. Stiles has always found them so fascinating.</p><p>“Stiles!” A familiar voice calls out suddenly, making Stiles stop in his tracks and look around to find the girl that the voice belonged to. Eventually, he sees his best friend Malia swimming up to him from the left, with a wide smile on her face.</p><p>“Malia!” Stiles exclaims happily and then as she gets close enough, pulls her into a hug, and before long they are laughing and wrestling on the sandy ocean floor with Asherah swimming around them happily, nudging them on occasions, joining in on the fun.</p><p>Eventually, the two of them settle down and get off each other, Stiles’ cheeks hurting from laughing and smiling so much.</p><p>“Where have you been?” Malia asks curiously.</p><p>“I was playing with Asherah.” Stiles replies, glancing over to the happy bottlenose dolphin, who swims over to Malia and nuzzles her, causing Malia to giggle.</p><p>“I wish I could’ve come, my parents made me go with them to the market.” Malia pouts, swishing her shimmering purple tail about in the water with annoyance and a stream of bubbles pour out from her gills as she lets out a frustrated huff.</p><p>“Ugh, the markets are so boring, adults are no fun.” Stiles comments with an exaggerated eye roll.</p><p>“You can say that again.” Malia says with a scoff, crossing her arms against her chest. Asherah swims back over to Stiles and nuzzles up to him.</p><p>“Oh, alright, you sook.” Stiles comments to the dolphin in a false annoyed tone before stroking the dolphin’s back again, causing Asherah to click and chatter happily.</p><p>“Hey, Malia, would you want to come over for dinner with me and my parents tonight?” Stiles asks curiously, looking back towards his best friend hopefully.</p><p>“I’ll have to ask my parents, but I’m sure they’ll be okay with it.” Malia grins.</p><p>“Cool! Maybe my parents can tell us more stories about the Land. I love those stories!” Stiles says enthusiastically. </p><p>“I don’t know why you are so fascinated by the surface world, Stiles. Our world is so much better.” Malia replies, gazing at Stiles with a little confusion.</p><p>“I know, but I’m just curious about it, that’s all. It would be so different up there, I wonder what life would be like.” Stiles explains.</p><p>“Well, my mum said that the one time she went up to the surface to have a quick look at the Land while staying a safe distance away in the sea still, she said that a lot of the humans looked unhappy and disconnected from each other. Why would you want that sort of life?” Malia frowns.</p><p>“Hey, I’m not saying I want to be live as a human forever, or even go to the surface at all really. What I mean is that I’m just curious about it. It’s an unknown thing, and I love figuring out unknown things.” Stiles points out in return.</p><p>“Fair enough,” Malia concedes with a shrug. </p><p>“Anyway, let’s go to your place and ask your parents if you can come to my place for dinner.” Stiles suggests, and Malia agrees. The two then race each other towards the city, laughing and jostling with each other along the way, as Asherah follows behind them happily.</p><p>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</p><p>“Mum, Dad, can you tell us a story about the Land? Please?” Stiles asks a little while after dinner, as his mother is brushing her hair through with a shell and his father rearranging the seaweed clump pillows on the inlaid shelf beds of the cave, which Noah Stilinski carved out a long time ago when he bought this cave for his family.</p><p>Noah and Claudia exchange a quizzical look with each other before turning to look at Stiles and Malia.</p><p>“Well, what sort of story do you want?” Claudia asks warmly as she puts the shell down and swims over to her son and his best friend, sitting down on the cave floor, her light blue tail curling up to her side.</p><p>“Something fun and cool!” Stiles exclaims excitedly.</p><p>“Something scary!” Malia pipes up at the same time as Stiles. The two turn to look at each other for a moment, gawking a little at the other. The moment causes Noah and Claudia to chuckle.</p><p>“Well, I’m sure we can deliver something with both of your ideas.” Noah comments as he swims over to sit next to his wife, his royal green tail somewhat curling around Claudia’s.</p><p>“Yay!” Stiles exclaims happily, as Malia rolls her eyes in amusement at her friend’s easy excitement.</p><p>“Very well... as you know, we merfolk tend to stay as far away from humans and their Land as much as possible, so none of us have too much knowledge on what the Land is like now, and mainly go on the historical stone message carvings left behind by our ancestors about their experiences with the Land and humans. A lot of things could have changed over time, just as time has changed our pod.” Claudia begins, with Stiles and Malia listening intently.</p><p>“We stay away from humans for good reason. There are many stories of our ancestors being captured by some groups of humans, tortured by them, and eventually killed. Humans can be very dangerous and vicious, always at war with each other and trying to destroy each other.” Noah adds, not wanting the children to get the wrong idea and become complacent about the dangers of the world above them. Stiles and Malia gasp in shock, horrified by thought that someone would want to torture another living being.</p><p>“Why would they do that?” Stiles asks, not exactly liking the way this story is going.</p><p>“Most humans aren’t even aware of our existence, which is good, as that would cause even more trouble for us, I’m sure. But our ancestors have written about how there have always been groups of hunters wanting to go after us and destroy us, but not before seeing if our blood or scales could be worth something, and will usually sell them to the highest bidder. My uncle learned that the hard way, and all that was ever found of him was a few scales near the docks where had been captured. It’s a cruel underworld on the Land that not even all humans know about, but it doesn’t mean they all wouldn’t do the same thing if they knew.” Noah warns. Stiles and Malia subconsciously huddle closer together.</p><p>“They sound like monsters.” Malia whimpers. Claudia gives her husband a stern look, not impressed that he had to scare the kids like that. Noah shrugs his shoulders in confusion, not knowing what he did wrong. He only wants to keep Stiles safe, after all. Claudia sighs and turns back to the kids.</p><p>“Some humans are bad, yes. But not all of them are. A few years before you were born, Stiles, I went up to the surface out of curiosity. I wanted to know what the sun looked like above water, and what the Land looked like. And it was all more beautiful than I could have imagined, and I enjoyed watching the humans play about the sand on the shore. I loved it so much that I kept coming back to the same spot for days, until one day, I accidentally swam too close to the rocks and got myself stuck. I started panicking, worried about what would happen if the humans would find me, or not ever being able to get out from the rocks.” Claudia begins explaining, and is happy to see Stiles relax a little, and begins to look intrigued again.</p><p>“Eventually, this man pops up from behind a sand dune, and I freeze, as does he. I fear the worst, but after a second, the man starts walking again, directly towards me. I’m terrified, and I try even harder to escape, but it’s no use. In his language, which I’m grateful that I had a little understanding of, he reassured me calmly that he was there to help me, not hurt me. I calmed down, seeing no cruelness or bad intentions in his eyes, and let him help me free. He said that if I ever needed anything, that he would be there for me and help me in any way that he could. As a thanks, I gave him our family locket and told the man that if he finds any other merperson in need of help, then show them this and they’ll know that he is a friend to all merfolk. Giving your family locket and symbol to a human is practically the biggest honour we could ever bestow upon them, it is a sign of how much trust we have with that person. Your father didn’t exactly like that I gave the family locket away though.” Claudia continues, glancing over to Noah.</p><p>“Well, first of all, I had to find another locket and also take the time to carve our crest into it, which takes longer than you think. And second of all, I personally don’t think humans could ever be trusted enough to be given our highest reguard of honour. It may have been a thing way back many centuries ago where some sailors and merfolk had a fair few interactions, but those days are long gone now.” Noah defends while Claudia just shrugs.</p><p>“I don’t regret my decision. I still trust Alan to this day. Perhaps I’ll go on Land to visit him sometime...” Claudia contemplates thoughtfully.</p><p>“We can go on Land?!” Stiles gasps, completely shocked by this revelation.</p><p>“It can be done, yes, but you never need to worry about that, kiddo. You won’t be going there.” Noah says firmly, folding his arms across his chest. Stiles’ shoulders slump in disappointment.</p><p>“You would be stupid to go to such a cruel place, Stiles.” Malia comments, now more determined than ever to stay away from the surface.</p><p>“But my mum said that not all of it is bad! And surely visiting for an hour couldn’t hurt!” Stiles protests indignantly.</p><p>“Sorry Stiles, but your father’s right. You won’t be going to the surface. I don’t want you there either. Even though there are some good people up there, and it’s a curious and fascinating place, unfortunately there is a lot of darkness in that world, and I never want you to get hurt. Do you understand, sweetheart?” Claudia says with a sad smile, and reaches out and squeezes her son’s hand comfortingly. </p><p>“Yes, Mum...” Stiles sighs after a moment of hesitation, not particularly happy with that outcome.</p><p>“Alright. Enough talk about the surface. Let’s talk about the full moon festival coming up next week. I never know what food to bring to these things. Or what to wear. And I would totally have two left fins if it weren’t for your mother.” Noah chimes in, ready to steer the conversation away from the curiosities and unanswered questions that await in the world above their own.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <i>*10 years later*</i>
</p><p>Scott is woken up to the sound of his phone alarm going off, and Scott automatically groans in dismay, wishing for even just a few more minutes of sleep. After another couple of seconds trying to force himself awake, Scott rolls over in his bed and reaches out to his nightstand and grabs his phone, turning his alarm off, and then Scott flops back down onto his bed, happy to have silence surrounding him instead of that annoying buzz of the alarm. He closes his eyes for a few moments, savouring the comfiness of his bed, wishing he could stay here all day instead of going to school.</p><p>“There’s only one semester left,” Scott reminds himself with a mumble, and then forces himself to sit up and slowly get out of bed, yawning and stretching as he does so. </p><p>Scott potters around his room, getting ready for another school day, that he really hopes won’t be filled with supernatural threats. Even though Jackson and Theo are somewhat allies to the pack now, Scott still very much distrusts them, particularly Theo. The guy almost destroyed Scott’s pack and tried to get Liam to kill him, and when that failed, Theo tried to kill Scott and take his true alpha powers for himself. Those things you can never really forget, or truly forgive, in Scott’s opinion. Unless you’re the most perfect of people, which Scott knows that he isn’t.</p><p>“Scott! I’m going to work now, and I won’t be home until 10 tonight! I’ll leave you some money to get some dinner for yourself on the fridge. Have a good day at school; study hard!” Scott hears his mother, Melissa, call out from downstairs as he is pulling on a red t-shirt.</p><p>“Thanks, Mum! I love you!” Scott yells out in response.</p><p>“Love you too, sweetheart! See you tonight!” Melissa responds, and then Scott hears the front door open and shut, leaving Scott as the only one in the house, as it usually is most mornings. Scott quickly finishes getting dressed, stuffs all of his books into his bag, walks down stairs and goes about preparing his breakfast.</p><p>As Scott takes out a bowl for his cereal, he decides to turn the radio on and listen to some music as he eats his breakfast, to break up the silence. He tunes the radio to his favourite station, where they are talking about the weather, and Scott goes back to making his bowl of cereal.</p><p>Once he’s all set, Scott grabs a spoon and sits down on a stool at the kitchen bench and begins eating his cereal, enjoying his time to himself before school and any potential supernatural chaos that may come his way. How trouble always seems to find Scott, he has no idea.</p><p>Scott can’t even remember why he wanted to go out into the woods to find a dead body where this supernatural life of his all started in the first place. There are definitely days when he wishes Peter could have bitten someone else, but at the same time, Scott realises that even with all the bad, there has been a lot of good. He’s met the best friends he could ever ask for, and he has helped save lives. Despite the days where Scott is feeling down about everything, hating that huge responsibilities have been thrust upon him, Scott still wouldn’t have it any other way. He wouldn’t change anything if he could go back in time.</p><p>As he’s taking one of his last bites of his cereal, a song finally begins playing on the radio, and it makes Scott freeze instantly with the spoon half way to his mouth, recognising the song instantly. Why oh why did they have to play that song? ‘Beautiful’ by Christina Aguilera was his Abuela’s favourite song, and she used to sing it all the time. It didn’t matter where, it could be on a drive down to the beach, baking cookies, whatever. It was her song, and hearing it playing on the radio brings up all of Scott’s memories of his Abuela, and remembering how devastated he was when she passed away when he was 11. Her death was also the reason that Scott and his mum moved to Beacon Hills. Scott never even got to say a proper goodbye to his Abuela.</p><p>Tears start welling up in Scott’s eyes, his heart feeling like it’s starting to crack open once more. Scott still misses his Abuela dearly; she was the one that would always come and cheer him up while his parents were fighting. During his parents’ divorce, Scott spent many nights at Abuela Lucrecia’s house. And somehow, Scott thinks that if his Abuela was alive today, she would have found out that he was a werewolf before he figured it out, and that she would try to help him in any way that he could. Scott just wishes he could have one more conversation with her, and tell her that she was right about there being more things in this world than either of them ever knew.</p><p>Scott sniffles and quickly wipes the tears from his eyes before hurriedly finishing the last of his cereal and walks over to the radio, turning it off, not needing a sad trip down memory lane right now. </p><p>Scott then puts his dishes in the dishwasher, runs upstairs and brushes his teeth, grabs his bag, keys, motorbike helmet and leaves the house for school, locking the front door behind him.</p><p>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</p><p>Noah Stilinski sighs as he looks at the conch shell that he and Claudia had carved their names into 20 years ago, when they had first gotten together. In some ways, it still feels like yesterday to Noah, enjoying every minute with Claudia, making the time seem like it was flying by, until everything stopped on one fateful day. Exactly nine years ago to this day, in fact. Noah still hasn’t fully accepted what happened, never mind emotionally recovered. Noah has not been the same since that terrible day.</p><p>Claudia Stilinski, the love of Noah’s life and the mother of his child, was killed when she was caught up in a fishing net, which the humans dragged up onto the boat and were shocked by what they found. Claudia struggled, but couldn’t get away, as the humans kept poking and prying her with sticks. In a last ditch effort to not be taken back to shore and likely be experimented on, Claudia used her powers to push the boat as fast as possible towards the cliff face nearby, resulting in a massive crash, rocks falling down, crushing the humans, Claudia, and the rest of the boat. </p><p>Noah watched the whole thing from afar, absolutely horrified and outraged. He only just missed getting there in time to save her, and that has always haunted him, reliving those moments over and over again in his nightmares. If only he had realised that Claudia had been gone too long a lot sooner. If only he didn’t cower at the sight of the boat and the humans onboard. Claudia gave her life to protect other merfolk from potentially meeting the same fate as her. Noah has never hated humans and their selfishness, greed and need for power more.</p><p>Noah is grateful for one thing though, which is that he’s so relieved that Stiles wasn’t there to see what happened. It would’ve completely destroyed his son, especially at such a young age. Not wanting to reveal the horrible truth that humans are to blame for his mother’s death, when Noah returns to the city, he tells Stiles that Claudia had gotten too close to an underwater geyser. </p><p>Yes, Noah feels bad lying to his son about how his own mother died, but Noah figured that the truth would be too much for him. It’s too much for Noah to handle even. He just wants to turn back time and save Claudia before it’s too late, and make sure that the people that captured Claudia would have suffered more greatly.</p><p>Noah sniffles, his chest feeling tight and his eyes stinging as all of the guilt, grief and horror of that awful day resurface clearly in his mind. He holds onto the shell tightly, never wanting to let go of it.</p><p>“Dad! What’s taking you so long? The festival is going to begin soon, I don’t want to miss it!” A voice calls out from behind Noah, snapping the merman back into reality. Noah turns around and sees his son swimming into the cave with a confused, yet frantic look on his face.</p><p>“Sorry, I was just thinking about some things, that’s all.” Noah apologises, forcing a smile. A concerned look appears on his son’s face, and he swims closer to Noah, reaching out and placing a hand on his arm.</p><p>“Were you thinking about Mum?” Stiles asks quietly, a deep sadness underlying his tone of voice.</p><p>“Yeah, I was... it’s been nine years since she died. I just miss her so much...” Noah sighs, not seeing any point in lying to Stiles, as he’s sure Stiles has been thinking about that awful day nine years ago as well.</p><p>“Me too, Dad. I just wish I could’ve had at least said goodbye to her, you know? And told her that I loved her. What if she didn’t know that I loved her?” Stiles rambles worriedly, and Noah can sense his son’s anxiety levels increasing off the charts. Noah quickly pulls Stiles into a tight hug, never wanting to let go.</p><p>“Your mother knew you loved her, Stiles. I promise. And she loved you just as much as I love you. Don’t forget that, okay? And I’m always going to be here for you, no matter what.” Noah reassures Stiles firmly while he continues to hug him. He feels Stiles hug him a little bit tighter at those words.</p><p>“I love you too, Dad. I think Mom would be proud of us, for carrying on like we have since she... since she left us.” Stiles replies shakily.</p><p>“We will always be okay, because we still have each other.” Noah says firmly.</p><p>“Always.” Stiles agrees, still not letting go of Noah. Eventually, the two pull out of the hug.</p><p>“Alright. Enough of the sad stuff. Let’s go to the festival. I’ve heard it’s going to be extra special this year,” Noah says as he composes himself.</p><p>“Agreed,” Stiles grins.</p>
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<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“So, have you decided what you want to major in at college, Scott?” Lydia asks curiously.</p><p>“No, not yet. I’m still stuck between the vet pathway and the marine biology pathway. Both careers interest me heatedly.” Scott sighs as he, Kira and Lydia continue to pack up their things from their AP biology lesson that has just finished.</p><p>“Well, UC Davis does offer great courses for both of those, so at least you’re on the right track.” Kira shrugs.</p><p>“Yeah, only if I get the grades though. I doubt I’ll be good enough to get into veterinary sciences or marine biology.” Scott replies dejectedly, swinging his bag over his shoulder.</p><p>“Don’t be so hard on yourself. You’ve worked really hard this year, despite us having to deal with the dread doctors and the beast of gevaudan.” Kira reminds him seriously.</p><p>“Don’t forget Theo.” Scott adds sourly, glancing over his shoulder to see Theo at the back of the room, who looks at Scott and gives him a very obviously fake smile. Scott rolls his eyes and turns back to Kira and Lydia.</p><p>“Why did you and Liam decide to let him out again, Kira?” Scott asks as the three of them make their way out of the room, slowly making their way back to their lockers.</p><p>“Because we needed his help with stopping Garret Douglas. We were lucky that he had not yet succeeded in having his own personal ghost rider army, and that we managed to divert the ghost riders away from Beacon Hills before they caused chaos here.” Lydia reminds Scott with a pointed look.</p><p>“He lost his powers he stole from others anyway, so he really didn’t end up being much help,” Scott scoffs and rolls his eyes.</p><p>“Besides, why didn’t we send him back?”</p><p>“Because everyone deserves a second chance. You’re the one that told us that a long time ago, Scott. Don’t stop believing in that now. Though, I do agree Theo is still a pain in the ass. At least he somewhat gets along with Liam and helps him with his anger, I suppose.” Lydia tries to reason with the werewolf.</p><p>“I guess... I still don’t trust him though. He tried to get Liam to kill me for crying out loud. Then Theo tried to kill me when it didn’t work out! He broke up the pack!” Scott exclaims as he reaches his locker, shoving his biology books back into it, whilst grabbing out his economics textbooks for his next class after lunch.</p><p>“We can send him back to Hell whenever we want, and it’s clear he doesn’t want to go back there, nor does he have the other chimera powers, so I don’t think he will be much of a problem anymore. You don’t have to trust him, Scott, but you can trust us. We’ll take care of it before anything gets bad.” Kira says, giving Scott’s shoulder a comforting squeeze, making Scott feel a bit better and more relaxed.</p><p>“Thanks, Kira.” Scott smiles fondly at the kitsune, glad that the skin walkers let her go only after a few weeks. It gave them time to repair the trust between them, even though they decided that they needed to be just friends, and not in a relationship. Yet, Scott has never felt closer to Kira, and she has been amazing with helping Scott try and continue to push through senior year.</p><p>“Well, I’ll see you guys later. I have a history project I need to finish.” Kira says, readjusting her bag on her shoulder.</p><p>“Wait, do you want us to come with you?” Lydia asks.</p><p>“I don’t want you to be stuck in the library at lunch if you don’t have to. I need to focus anyway, I’ll see you guys in economics. Bye!” Kira laughs, closes her locker? and then turns around and starts heading towards the library, with Scott and Lydia staring after her.</p><p>“Well then, let’s go find the others and find a place to sit.” Lydia suggests.</p><p>“Sounds good to me,” Scott agrees. With that, they start heading back towards the school entrance.</p><p>~~~</p><p>“Scott, can I talk to you for a minute?” Melissa calls out from the kitchen.</p><p>“I’ll be right down!” Melissa hears Scott shout back and then the sound of thudding footsteps coming down the stairs. Melissa walks into the dining room and sits down at the table just as Scott enters the room. Melissa watches as Scott walks over and sits down as well, looking a little confused.</p><p>“What do you want to talk about? Is something wrong? Are you okay?” Scott asks worriedly, causing Melissa to chuckle a little.</p><p>“I’m fine, Scott, everything is fine. I wanted to talk about you.” Melissa replies.</p><p>“What about me?” Scott frowns.</p><p>“I was just wondering if you had made a decision about college yet.” Melissa says.</p><p>“Oh... um... not really, I guess. I mean, I know that UC Davis is where I want to go, and I’ve almost finished my application, but... I’m trying to decide between veterinary sciences and marine biology.” Scott mumbles, feeling a little embarrassed. Scott knows that his application should definitely be in by now; it should have been in two weeks ago. It’s driving Scott mad, but it is really annoying that everyone seems to be on his case about it. His friends and parents’ constant questions haven’t helped Scott come to a clear decision yet, and he doubts they ever will.</p><p>“What’s making the decision difficult?” Melissa inquired curiously.</p><p>“I don’t know, it’s just... I guess animals have always been a passion of mine, and I’ve loved working with Deaton these past few years. But with marine biology... I don’t know, I’ve always been completely fascinated by the ocean. It’s probably because I spent so much time at the beach with Abuela. The ocean and the study of things within it makes it still feel like she’s here, you know? I think she’d love marine biology, and I want to make her proud. I just don’t know what to do, Mum. My heart is pulling in me in two directions.” Scott explains, groaning at the end, placing his head in his hands, feeling like he will never be able to make a decision. Melissa bites her lip as she watches her son, trying to figure out the best advice to give.</p><p>“Hmm. I wish I could give you an easy answer, Scott, but unfortunately there is none. While it is possible to transfer into a different course while at college, it may not be easy, and there’s a lot of documentation required for some degrees, so it can be a bit messy and I wouldn’t recommend doing that, if possible. I think you just need to dig a bit deeper into your heart and figure out what you really want. Just remember, you don’t owe Deaton or your Abuela anything. This is your future, not theirs. You have to make the choice for yourself.” Melissa says after a moment of contemplation. Scott takes his hands away from his face and gazed across at Melissa skeptically.</p><p>“How am I supposed to dig deeper into my heart? How do I know what I really want?” Scott asks, feeling hopeless.</p><p>“Just try and imagine yourself in each field, and figure out which one feels more realistic and something you would enjoy doing. Write down a list of pros and cons for both being a vet and a marine biologist. Think about how many job opportunities are available,” Melissa responds.</p><p>“I know it’s tough, honey, these next few years are probably going to be the hardest of your life as you transition from being a teenager to an adult. But you’re strong and smart, and I know you can do it.” Melissa continues.</p><p>“I mean, you’ve saved Beacon Hills how many times now?” Melissa adds with a smirk, causing Scott to chuckle a little bit.</p><p>“Thanks for believing in me, Mum. I love you.” Scott says appreciatively with a warm smile on his face.</p><p>“I love you too, sweetheart. I’ll always be here for and support you no matter what. And just remember, I’m so proud of you and the man that you’ve become.” Melissa beats proudly at her son.</p><p>“Now, come over here and give me a hug.” Melissa requests as she stands up and holds her arms out. Scott laughs as he stands up and then walks over to his mum and pulls her into a tight embrace.</p><p>“I miss Abuela...” Scott sighs, his heart aching as thoughts of her crosses his mind.</p><p>“Me too, honey, me too.” Melissa says soothingly, resting her chin on Scott’s shoulder, rubbing Scott’s back comfortingly.</p>
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<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Chapter 5</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Stiles speeds through the seaweed forest zig zagging from side to side to add some extra fun to it. </p><p>“Keep up, Asherah!” Stiles laughs as he continues swimming through the seaweed. The happy chattering of the dolphin signals to Stiles that she is having a great time too. Stiles slows down a tad, and glances to the side to see Asherah swimming up beside him, the two of them almost touching. Asherah then nudges Stiles’ side with her tail and begins nuzzling up beside him.</p><p>“Oh, you want to guide me through the forest do you?” Stiles quips an eyebrow slightly. Asherah clicks away happily in response.</p><p>“Well, how can I say no to the best dolphin in the world?” Stiles grins, slowing down even more, only flicking his tail every couple of seconds, and then Stiles reaches his hand out and gently holds onto Asherah’s fin. Asherah then takes the lead, guiding them through the seaweed forest. Stiles glances around him, watching as the seaweed sways side to side due to the currents swirling through. The sunlight from above allows the different shades of green appear more obvious, and it all looks very pretty. Stiles takes note to sometimes slow down through seaweed forests, to try and notice things he doesn’t really see when he spends through them, trying to get to different places.</p><p>Once they get through the last of the seaweed forest, Stiles let’s go of Asherah’s fin and comes to a stop, watching as Asherah keeps on swimming, doing loop the loops and swimming in circles, having a great time. The sight makes him smile. He wishes that he always had the happiness and energy of dolphins. Although, some merfolk say that Stiles has the activeness of five dolphins combined.</p><p>After a few more moments of watching Asherah, Stiles glances upwards towards the surface, which would be at least a couple miles above him. He gazes at the sunlight pouring down from above, making the surface of the ocean shimmer like magic, and creating different shades of light throughout the ocean. </p><p>Stiles sighs in awe, wondering how it would look if he was above water. What would the sky look like? And what about the Land? There are so many things Stiles is so excited and curious about, never wanting a mystery to go unsolved. The world above the water is a massive unsolved mystery to Stiles, and as he’s gotten older, he continues to get more and more eager to uncover the mystery of the world above.</p><p>Asherah, now having finished her small energy burn off, swims back over to Stiles, looking a bit curious, if a dolphin could look curious. Stiles chuckles and strokes her back, causing her to chatter away happily. As he keeps stroking her back, Stiles glances upwards again, watching as the water’s surface shimmers with sunlight.</p><p>“I really want to see what’s up above, Asherah. I know my dad doesn’t get it, or my friends for that matter, but I just want to know. You know? Yes, it has its dangers I suppose, but taking a sneak peak wouldn’t hurt, right? It’s not like I’m going to actually go on Land... and no one has to know... so why not?” Stiles rambles to the dolphin while still gazing upwards. After a couple more moments of contemplation, Stiles finally comes to a conclusion: he will go to the surface and have a quick look.</p><p>Stiles honestly can’t believe he hasn’t done this before. He supposes that it always was his mum that seemed more curious about Land more than his dad ever was, and after his mum died, Stiles forgot all about it for a while and then didn’t really want to bother trying. As years went on, that morphed into listening to his dad, who seemed to grow more and more distasteful for the world above the water. Stiles doesn’t exactly know why his dad’s opinion has gotten stronger over time without any seemingly valid reason, but in the end, none of it really matters. Stiles is going up to see the Land, the sun and the sky. He’s old enough to make his own decisions, and he’ll make sure to not be seen.</p><p>“I’ll see you later Asherah, I’m going to the surface to have a look for a bit. Go and play, or find your pod. They might be looking for you.” Stiles tells the dolphin fondly, giving her one last stroke. Asherah seems to nod her head in acknowledgement and turns around, beginning to swim away back through the seaweed forest.</p><p>Once he can no longer see Asherah, Stiles flips his tail and begins speedily swimming upwards, excitement and a hint of nerves rushing through his veins. His heart is starting to race, still in disbelief that he’s doing this. Stiles wonders what his father would think. He probably wouldn’t be happy, that’s for sure. It’s a good thing he won’t be finding out!</p><p>After about a minute, Stiles is just below the surface. He comes to a sudden stop, taking in the fact that he’s never come this far before. His nerves, although irrational, are going through the roof right now. He’s about to see a whole new world, entirely different to his own. After spending years thinking about what it might be like, it’s strange that he’s about to find out now.</p><p>“Well, here goes nothing, I guess...” Stiles mumbles to himself before taking a deep breath and finally takes the last flick of the tail to finally submerge from the water.</p><p>Several sensations happens to Stiles all at once: Stiles gasps at how cold his face feels compared to when it’s in the water, the wind making the cold more noticeable.  The wind is even more icy cold against the gills on his neck, almost a burning sensation. Yet the sun immediately blinds Stiles’ eyes, making him wince and look away. He can hear the sounds of waves crashing onto shore, and some sort of animals with wings flying up above him, making a lot of noise. The sky is a light blue, and everything is taking Stiles’ breath away.</p><p>“Wow... this is amazing.” Stiles says to himself as he looks around in wonder, taking in the sounds and the view, as water splashes up against his chest. Stiles then looks towards the shore and the Land, and once again, he’s completely taken aback and in awe.</p><p>The waves roll onto the sandy shore, and the sound of the waves rolling in is bliss to Stiles’ ears. Stiles then concentrated on the rocky cliffs on both ends of the sandy shores, creating some sort of cove. Stiles notices that behind the sand and cliffs, there appears to be some sort of green stuff covering the ground. Could it be seaweed? It doesn’t really look like seaweed, but then again, Stiles is probably too far away to be able to tell for sure.</p><p>Gathering up some courage, Stiles slowly starts to swim forward, making sure to keep low, not wanting to be spotted by anyone or anything. Stiles swims up to a rock sticking out of the water and he holds onto it and hides behind it before sticking his head out around the side to have a closer look at the Land before him.</p><p>Beyond the seaweed, there looks to be massive cave like structures as far as the eye can see, and the green ground becomes grey, as if made of rock, with lots of objects moving across it. It’s a very peculiar looking place, that’s for sure. Stiles wasn’t sure what he was expecting, yet strangely he knows this isn’t really what he expected. It’s definitely more intriguing and exciting than he thought it would be, which is certainly saying something.</p><p>However, the most interesting thing of all, and one of things that Stiles was the most curious about in seeing, were the humans. There were some on the sand, some on the seaweed thing, and it looks like some are in the moving objects on the weird rock/stone ground. </p><p>Stiles watches with fascination as the humans on the sand run about, laughing and playing with each other, especially the children. Stiles wonders what it would be like to run. It must make people feel so free, being able to explore the Land so much quicker. Stiles wishes he could try it, just once, but alas, it would be impossible. </p><p>Stiles sighs longingly as he continues to watch the humans on the beach, playing on the sand and in the shallow water. He is so glad he came up to the surface to finally see what the Land is like from afar. While it is still such a mystery to him, Stiles feels like he has at least uncovered a tiny bit of it, and that’s good enough for now. ‘I’m definitely going to come back here,’ Stiles thinks to himself.</p><p>After a few more minute of peeking out from behind the rock to watch the humans on Land, Stiles decides that he should probably head back underwater, knowing that he could still easily be spotted by humans from here, and he’s not sure he wants to take that risk. </p><p>Glancing one more time at the brilliantly blue sky, Stiles dives back down underwater, back towards his own reality. As he reaches the ocean floor, floating next to the seaweed forest, Stiles looks back up at the surface way above him.</p><p>“I’ll be back,” Stiles says confidently with a smile before turning around and heading back through the seaweed forest , his heart still pounding with excitement from the thrill of what he just did.</p><p>“Stiles!” The shout of his best friend’s voice makes Stiles freeze, his stomach feeling like it’s dropped into the sand. Oh no.</p><p>“Malia!” Stiles exclaims as he turns in the direction that the voice came from, and a second later, Malia emerges from the forest of seaweed with a suspicious look on her face.</p><p>“What the hell are you doing all the way out here? This is so close to the shore! Your dad was worried when you didn’t show up for lunch, and he sent me to look for you.” Malia frowns, folding her arms over her chest. Stiles bites his lip nervously, not really sure how he should explain what happened.</p><p>“Um... I was just out here swimming with Asherah and I lost track of time, I guess.” Stiles replies with a shrug, hoping Malia won’t pry too much further. Unfortunately for Stiles, Malia is the type that would absolutely pry further until she gets the definite truth, and it appears this time she is willing to do the same again.</p><p>“I don’t see Asherah here. In fact, I saw her swimming back towards the city from this direction, which is what made me suspect that you were this way. I don’t think you’re telling me the whole truth.” Malia says, her eyebrows narrowing in suspicion even more.</p><p>“Look, I’m fine, I’ll go and apologise to my dad. I honestly did just lose track of time, and that’s not exactly unusual for me, as you know. I’ll organise to do a lunch with my dad some other time. He had a lot of work to do today anyway, so maybe it wasn’t the worst thing that lunch didn’t work out.” Stiles explains, hoping that the conversation will be over and that they can both just swim back to the city. Malia continues to sternly stare at Stiles, making shift and twitch his tail uncomfortably.</p><p>“You went up to the surface, didn’t you?” Malia concludes, her frown only deepening.</p><p>“So what if I did? I was only up there for a few minutes, and it’s not like anyone saw me! I stayed hidden and a safe distance away from the shore. I just wanted to have a look, Malia! You know I’ve always been curious about what is above the water. I can’t believe you aren’t curious about it!” Stiles splutters defiantly, crossing his arms across his chest, standing his ground. Malia groans in dismay and rolls her eyes.</p><p>“Your Dad is going to kill you, Stiles. You know he doesn’t want you, or any other merperson, to go up to the surface. And I don’t blame him either. Humans would never understand us, we can’t trust them.”  Malia says, desperately trying to get her point across.</p><p>“Why would we want to see their world? It’s not like we can just easily explore it, so what’s the point? Aren’t you happy with your life, and living in the city of Osilis?” Malia asks incredulously, not understanding why Stiles is so obsessed with the Land above. </p><p>“Of course I’m happy here Malia, my whole life is here. I don’t want to live anywhere else. But it doesn’t mean I can’t be curious as to how humans live, who are so similar to us, aside from the gills and the tail of course.” Stiles responds, wishing that Malia could understand his point of view, but he’s not surprised that she doesn’t. Stiles doesn’t know of any other merperson who is as curious about the Land as much as Stiles is.</p><p>“Just... just please don’t tell my dad about this. Please. I don’t need a lecture from him.” Stiles asks a little dejectedly. Malia’s expression finally starts to soften as she notices her friend’s defeated plea.</p><p>“Alright, I won’t tell him. But you should, Stiles. What would happen if something horrible happened to you while you are up there? No one would have known where you were to be able to help you out of trouble. I don’t want to see you get hurt, Stiles. You’re my best friend.” Malia replies, letting her arms finally fall to her sides, the frown finally gone from her face and is replace by a concerned, but caring gaze.</p><p>“I understand where you’re coming from. I would hate for something to happen to you too. I’ll talk to my dad, but it’s not going to go well.” Stiles agrees reluctantly.</p><p>“Thank you,” Malia smiles in relief, happy that they could come to a sort of compromise.</p><p>“I’ll race you back to town.” Malia adds with a wink, changing the subject to something more lighthearted and fun.</p><p>“Oh, you’re on!” Stiles smirks, accepting the challenge easily. Without any warning or countdown, Stiles begins to quickly swim off through the seaweed forest, leaving a swirling trail of bubbles behind him. Malia doesn’t waste any time and begins racing after Stiles, not wanting to be beaten. She doesn’t want to lose her winning streak against Stiles, after all.</p>
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